Last week’s poll: Jaguar Land Rover in Slovakia

What is the main message we should take from Jaguar Land Rover’s decision to move production of Land Rover Discovery from Solihull to Slovakia?

The millionth Discovery on the line at Solihull Image: JLR

If 41 per cent of last week’s respondents are right, JLR’s decision to build Discovery models in a new Slovakian factory lays down a warning about what could happen if Brexit goes badly.

Just under a third (31 per cent) of the 811 respondents to last week’s poll thought the move a logical manufacturing decision and not a cause for alarm, followed by a fifth of readers who thought it a snub to UK manufacturing. The remaining eight per cent opted for ‘none of the above’.

As well as shifting production to a new facility in Slovakia, JLR will also retool its Solihull plant to make new Range Rover models.

Reaction to the Poll has been strong, with 28 responses to date.

Mike said: “Like any successful enterprise, JLR needs to become a global company then that will mean manufacturing abroad, but I would have much preferred they built a manufacturing base in the Far east or the Americas to supply those markets with vehicles. Slovakia is relatively close to home and will effect manufacturing in the UK, this does appear to be a response to Brexit and shows how worried JLR are about possible tariffs.”

Graham Sturgess added: “I suspect that one of the other contributing factors in the move is the very finite space at Solihull, despite a massive new building project to the rear of the factory. Yes, UK production is expensive, but we do have the skills. But the masters in India may not care too much about where the product is actually made.”

Al De La Hay could see the move happening, observing that “it was always JLR`s intention to move production of Land Rover overseas. It is not until now that it has been made known `where`. As for Brexit, it remains to be seen whether tariffs & logistics costs force JLR & other remaining manufacturers production bases overseas, or if the government will offer initiatives (bribes from the public purse) for them to remain.”

What do you think? Keep the conversation flowing using Comments below.

Solihull is not a cheap place to make cars. But if this was really about rationalisation they would move Velar and F-Pace, not Discovery, as Discovery shares a pan with the big Range Rover models. More likely it is to allow those big models to be made in either place in due course. I’d guess that during a downturn, they’ll make as many cars as possible in the cheapest market, and use Solihull only as a top-up place when things are busy.

Of course it might backfire on JLR if the UK does get a bad deal from the EU.
Two issues perhaps might make this uneconomical in the long run if no deal or a punitive one:
1. Cost of parts shipped across borders.
2. UK public scratching Land Rover Discovery off its shopping list of Buy British in case of a trade war. That would be a shame but highly probable.

The labor costs are going to be well below 50%. They are offering 650€ – 1200€ a month before tax for manufacturing positions.

I am Slovakian and I am firmly against building another car manufacturing plant in the country. We are already no. 1 per capita manufacturer of cars in the world. Our government now tries to leverage our education to produce more workers for these places and that is just not right.

When I saw this piece of news yesterday, my first thought was the certainty that The Engineer would pick up on this and make yet another Brexit bashing poll out of it. It seems the editorial team are becoming very one dimensional! JLR themselves have not been drawn into the politics and are not blaming Brexit, so why should we? I believe they are just looking to sustain/grow/run their business the best way they see fit. The fact that they are getting Solihull ready for newer models should surely be seen as a positive. It could simply be a capacity problem. I assume car plants capable of that type of production cannot just be plucked out of thin air.

JLR’s decision to move production to Poland is obviously not good for the UK and which plant they use to produce units at particular times is entirely up to them, any business would take full advantage of any financial incentives. It may work out, post Brexit, that the EU workers may have more protection in wage terms than the UK?

This looks like a move to a more effective cost base to produce models and is a straight forward business decision. Solihull attracted a significant amount of skilled workers for non skilled jobs due to the level of pay and i am sure the margin in a Range Rover can stand such a high labour cost. It is the companies in the supply chain who will suffer due to increased logistics costs in supporting build and will this lead JLR into sourcing locally within Europe. We will wait and see what commitment Tata have to UK manufacturing when it comes down to the bottom line? Will we also see realistic wage levels return to Solihull to maintain its competitiveness???

Mick M
When I saw this piece of news yesterday, my first thought was the certainty that The Engineer would pick up on this and make yet another Brexit bashing poll out of it. It seems the editorial team are becoming very one dimensional! JLR themselves have not been drawn into the politics and are not blaming Brexit, so why should we? I believe they are just looking to sustain/grow/run their business the best way they see fit. The fact that they are getting Solihull ready for newer models should surely be seen as a positive. It could simply be a capacity problem. I assume car plants capable of that type of production cannot just be plucked out of thin air.

Brexit NEEDS bashing, mashing and smashing. It’s a total loser all round for everyone with nothing to benefit anyone except yay blue passports. I’m still waiting for someone, anyone, to explain one single future benefit from this whole debacle.

Sadly Brexit seems to be the only way to avoid a Federal Europe run by Ego-maniacs in Brussels. The common market was a great idea, however Brussels controlling our laws, borders, etc, etc was a step seen by many as too far. Sadly the EU is also so corrupt that they cannot produce annual financial reports. All in all staying within the EU is seen as crazy for the British public who have historically fought long and hard for our freedom.

I’ve owned 5 land rovers in my time the last one being a series 2 discovery. I found then to be good work horses and the early series 2 , 2A and 3 land rovers (pre defender) easy to work on and cheap.
I didn’t by a new one (new to me) this last time, I bought a Subaru Forester, better built, cheaper, reliable and just as capable on and off road for my use. Land Rover & Range Rover have become more about the badge than the car. The move to Slovakia may prove to be a good thing, the work force knows how to put a car together, the price may come down (maybe not!) and reliability may go up. As for Brexit who knows what effect it will have on anything.

I believe it was always JLR`s intention to move production of Landrover overseas it is not until now that it has been made known `where`.
As for Brexit it remains to be seen whether tarrifs & logistic costs force JLR & other remaining manufacturers production bases overseas or if the government will offer initiatives (bribes from the public purse) for them to remain.

It doesn’t make sense to spend yet more energy moving electric powertrains from Wolverhampton to a new i-Pace factory in Slovakia. Why not build them close together? After all, an MG factory is likely to become vacant shortly, considering the lack of sales.
Where are the batteries going to come from? They are also going to be expensive to truck around, considering their weight. That’s before any tariffs.
Regarding benefits from Brexit, Brexit Bulldog Liam Fox couldn’t explain any this morning.

I suspect that one of the other contributing factors in the move is the very finite space at Solihull, despite a massive new building project to the rear of the factory. Yes, UK production is expensive, but we do have the skills. But the masters in India may not care too much about where the product is actually made, and that’s a problem exacerbated when we sell off the family jewels (i.e. the UK motor industry) to Johnny foreigner.
Sandy’s comment above about available space at Longbridge (the old MG Rover plant) is probably not a practical consideration, given that much of the site is either already, or about to be sold for houses and shops. Even MG Motor were assembling a few kit cars the site was contracting. Don’t get me on to that one though…. Grrr. (SAIC raped MG and haven’t yet got a clue of the heritage, or European marketing for the future).

The most important message to be learnt is not on the list above.
When a predator moves in for one of our most prestigious companies it is most likely they are buying it for it’s order book and for it’s reputation. It is most unlikely it will be for the benefit of the product or the workforce and certainly not to the future long term benefit of this country.
This has happened many many times in recent history and I have lost count of the many UK companies that have been bought by foreign companies, asset stripped, moved out to foreign lands and the workforce here discarded. The name of the original company is all that is retained to give kudos to any future offering they wish to attach it to

THIS HAS OCCURRED SO MANY TIME IN THE PAST WE SHOULD ALL BE AWARE OF THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BY NOW – WHEN A PARASITIC PREDATOR BUTS UP YOUR COMPANY IMMEDIATELY LOOK FOR ANOTHER JOB.

Personally what I would like to see happen now is a major investment made in a new company to produce an improved version of the Discovery and the Land Rover to the present high specification. This would be easily achievable using the very professional and highly skilled staff already available in this country, the hard part would be locating the entrepreneur and capital to get it off the ground.
The new company could be called Land Roamer (using the old Japanese method of naming their copycat companies) and would hopefully keep the parasites away for a few more years.

This is typical of companies who will try and increase their profit margins by moving production to another country where there is cheaper labour, less hassle with import duties, free borders in Europe etc. Why stay in the UK where everything is getting more expensive; plus after the UK leaves the EU they only need a small workforce to stay & produce for the UK market. Why do you think other car manufacturers have all done the same; PSA taking over Vauxhall, keep producing for the UK market with no import problems as they are there. The same for Nissan-Renault–Mitsubishi doing the same plus most of the other manufacturers. The present government & previous over the last forty years have the idea of getting foreign companies in to take over various industries to produce jobs & they pay taxes into the system etc. But they seem to forget that all these companies profits go out of the country & the UK suffers the consequences of selling off all British industries! With out British run business there is no money coming into the country. It shows that MP’s have no idea about economics & running a country. Also why is it that these foreign companies seem to be successful at running these businesses but when it is run by british business men it fails. Too much corruption & greed with no real sense how to run a business & taking too much out for themselves, with nothing for the workers.

Like any successful enterprise, JLR needs to become a global company then that will mean manufacturing abroad, but I would have much preferred they built a manufacturing base in the Far east or the Americas to supply those markets with vehicles.
Slovakia is relatively close to home and will effect manufacturing in the UK, this does appear to be a response to Brexit and shows how worried JLR are about possible tariffs.

Once again, it is particularly valuable for those of us who are NOT ‘well versed in the art’ of vehicle manufacture et al to read the rational and well argued comments of fellow Engineers who clearly are! Might I add a single and simple comment. Engineers, skilled technicians, well motivated educated staff (at all levels) can ‘operate’ anywhere. Why because the laws (those of Nature) we deal with are the same everywhere. It is only those of man : which differ, country by country and which for whatever reason those who manipulate these feel the necessity to fight each other to maintain. This internationalisation of technology is the glue which surely binds we, blessed with the privilege of working in ‘our’ pride and joy -Engineering- in every country. Long may it continue.